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Poster promoting mass x-ray screening, England, 1945-1959

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‘Don't turn your back on the facts’ states this poster. It advertises mass miniature radiography. It features an image of a man smoking at a time when tuberculosis and lung cancer were responsible for 26,000 deaths in Britain. Advertising posters such as this promoted mobile X-ray screening programmes to detect pulmonary tuberculosis in large groups of people. Early diagnosis meant lower risk of infection to others such as co-workers or family. It also meant a higher chance of recovery. Mass miniature radiography produced X-rays just 10cm high. It only became possible with pre-war technological developments. These included extremely small, fast camera lenses that were applied to X-ray work. Mobile X-ray services played a large role in public health campaigns against tuberculosis in the 1940s and 1950s. Mobile X-ray services were very successful. They were phased out in the UK in the 1960s. However, they are still used in other parts of the world.